The cheapest cell phone service for your calling needs can be different from person to person. There are two types of cell phone users. Those who use them as their main form of staying connected and those who use them for only necessary phone calls. To determine which type of service is for you it is important that you define which type of cell phone user you are. An advertised low rate does not mean your monthly costs will be cheap if you use your phone differently than the prepaid plan allows. If you choose a plan which charges you around a $1.00 per day only when you use your phone and you use your phone 30 days of the month, it will cost $30.00 for the access plus a per minute rate with most plans which may not be the cheapest. A prepaid service for you may be one which includes unlimited talk time for $35.00 a month to keep costs low. To a person who uses the phone less frequently a dollar a day for access is a more reasonable option.

 

Make sure your phone works where you need it to work. If you have the cheapest cell phone service and it does not work where you need it to work you are not really getting a bargain.

 

Many of the daily access fee prepaid services offer unlimited nights and weekends and unlimited cell phone to cell phone calling between those using the same provider so there would be no additional per minute charges for these calls. This first option works very well for people who have a need to use their phones more often and once the daily access rate is charged, there would be no limit on the minutes used between others on that mobile network or during non-peak times. There are also prepaid phone services charged by the minute and there is not a daily access fee. The second option is ideal for people who use their cell phones on an infrequent basis.

 

There are other factors that can make prepaid the cheapest cell phone service such as no credit check, no contract and no security deposit. Individuals are also now being more savvy with their money in today's economy and paying for services you need rather than paying for a service regardless of use makes sense for a large number of cell phone users.

 

Unlike the prepaid services of the past which offered the ability to make and receive calls and virtually no other services, today features such as voice mail, text and picture messaging, international services, web, navigation systems and more are available. These services like per minute rates and daily access fees bill you for only what you use instead of a subscription rate on a bill charged monthly whether you use them or not. These options allow people to keep costs low.

 

Once you have done the research and get an estimate of what your costs will be based on your usage patterns you may find prepaid is not the cheapest cell phone service for you. If this is the case, you may be a candidate for a postpaid or contract account which allows a specific number of minutes per month for a fixed rate. Postpaid plans can be managed easily, and if you find the right plan it will be the cheapest option for your calling needs.